


Reflection

by shirosquared



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A really minor character, Day One: Time/Space, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mentions of PTSD, Shiro Week 2017, Shiro looks back on his life, Unnamed - Freeform, brief flashbacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 10:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12768735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirosquared/pseuds/shirosquared
Summary: Shiro looks back on his own life.He stares, unable to tear his eyes away.A year ago, he had an arm that was still his own, and a face that didn’t carry this haunted look from the Galra, or the heavy burden of being the Black Paladin.He remembers.





	Reflection

He stares, unable to tear his eyes away.

A year ago, he had an arm that was still his own, and a face that didn’t carry this haunted look from the Galra, or the heavy burden of being the Black Paladin.

He remembers.

He’s just turned twenty-one, and Iverson calls him to his office to offer him a spot on the Kerberos mission. He’s stunned and awed, but instead of immediately accepting, he says, “Are you sure?” He’s always been a bit less than confident, but he got used to hiding it.

He’s eighteen, and his mom is reading the Garrison acceptance letter with tears in her eyes. On her left, his other mother leans over her shoulder to get a good view of it. They end up framing the letter, even though Shiro tells them there’s no need.

He’s seventeen, graduating from high school near the top of his class. He didn’t quite make valedictorian or salutatorian, but that was fine with him – speeches weren’t really his thing.

He’s thirteen when he starts taking an interest in the stars. His moms bought him a telescope for his thirteenth birthday, and he takes it out most nights to study the stars. One day, he thinks, he wants to be able to see them up close.

Everything before that is… spotty. It’s hard to remember, but somehow, Shiro doesn’t think he minds. There are far worse things he could’ve forgotten, like—

_—his sword, swinging in a dangerous arc—_

—a door opening—

_—pain in his arm, blood running down his side—_

—a voice, speaking quietly but incoherently—

_—the screams of the crowd—_

—a hand on his shoulder, and he quickly pulls away from the source of contact, his chest heaving. “Shiro?” Hunk asks, looking worried.

He’s twenty-three when he returns to Earth, a shell of the man he used to be.

He’s good at faking, but he thinks about his team. His team, his  _family_ , and for once he thinks he might be okay.

“I’m okay,” he tells Hunk, and this time he thinks he means it.


End file.
